RED BANK: FROM THE SOUTH TO YOUR MOUTH

Jan 20, 2016

Clare Destoppelaire, manager of the Charleston Shops in Red Bank, shows off some of the Low Country food she sells. (Photos by Susan Ericson. Click to enlarge)

By SUSAN ERICSON

Filling in the space on Monmouth Street recently vacated by Toad Hollow is Red Bank’s newest purveyor of epicurean delights: the Charleston Shops. And it’s got a Southern accent.

Owners Isa and Peter Hewitt, a couple who live in north Jersey, love visiting the coastal Low Country area of South Carolina, where they have a home. So much so that they now have three Charleston Shops in New Jersey and Pennsylvania, betting that other northerners will enjoy what Charleston has to offer as well.

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January 20, 2016 - 8:00 am |

LITTLE SILVER: NEW OWNER TRANSFORMS ZOE

Aug 19, 2015

Laercio Chamon at the chef’s table at Zoe, where a large window offers a view of the kitchen. Below, an octopus and a watermelon salad. (Photos by Susan Ericson. Click to enlarge)

By SUSAN ERICSON

With new owner Laercio Chamon at the helm, the once Greek-centric menu Zoe Bistro in Little Silver has a jazzy bossa nova rhythm now.

At 33 years old, Chamon says he’s been working in kitchens for more than half his life, starting as a dishwasher at Doris and Ed’s in Highlands when he was 14.

“I always wanted to be a part of the line,” he tells PieHole. It’s like being behind the scenes of something you see in a movie. There’s something about the adrenaline, the rush.”

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August 19, 2015 - 2:00 pm |

RED BANK: CINNAMON SNAIL ON VEGAN ROLL

Jun 21, 2013

Adam Sobel, in striped bandana, says, “I want to get people excited about vegan. Its not all brown rice and steamed vegetables.” (Photos by Jim Willis.)

By JIM WILLIS

Adam Sobel, owner of the popular vegan food truck the Cinnamon Snail, doesnt get all preachy about being a vegan. Instead of sermons about the evils of the standard American diet or the darker side of factory-farmed animals, the 30-year-old Red Bank resident lets his food speak for itself, and hopes his cooking will get non-vegan customers to connect the dots on their own.

Since hitting the road three years ago, the Cinnamon Snail has become a Red Bank Farmers Market staple while amassing a considerable following in Manhattan, where it has won multiple awards. Mobile Cuisine Magazine, for example, named the Snail “America’s Favorite Vegan Food Truck” in 2012.

redbankgreen sat down with Sobel on the front porch of his home over a cup of chai and some yerba mate to discuss the trials and tribulations of a kitchen on wheels and whats next for the Cinnamon Snail.

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June 21, 2013 - 7:29 am |

Red Bank Green

Serving Red Bank and Greater Red Bank, NJ

RED BANK: FROM THE SOUTH TO YOUR MOUTH

LITTLE SILVER: NEW OWNER TRANSFORMS ZOE

RED BANK: CINNAMON SNAIL ON VEGAN ROLL